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Is it in your hand to control your time? Time.is passing so quickly, life is busy and at the end of the day you come up with lots of to-do lists. Lift, a free iPhone app with Web and Android versions due out this year, lets you set daily goals and track your progress. Lift was a big help. But I worried that manually checking off my activities would grow tiresome. That’s where Chronos comes in. The free iPhone app uses your phone’s accelerometer, GPS, and other location services to track your activities for you

No doubt, it is a revolution! Will Google Glass kill the smartphone? Reinvent gaming? Steal the second screen from tablets? Alter the marketing and shopping landscape entirely?

Probably not completely, and not all at once (since the device won’t be commercially available until next year). But experts predict that the new product could be a game-changer along the lines of the iPhone—one that could send shockwaves across the entertainment, advertising, commerce, media and gaming worlds. Continue reading:

Software giant Microsoft is waging a high-profile, election-style ad blitz against Google. The public attacks — in print, television and billboard messages that warn consumers about the supposed dangers of being “Scroogled,” or mistreated by Google — marks a strategic shift in a clash of Internet titans. Some experts are critical of the tactics. Continue reading:

Google’s got something interesting for its users in India – Mapathon 2013. In an official blog post, Google’s Jayanth Mysore, Senior Product Manager for Map Maker introduces the search giant’s newest initiative that it will throw open for anyone in India – from February 12, 2013 to March 25, 2013.

Mysore explains that Mapathon 2013 stems from Google’s initiative towards creating better maps for India, for which they’ll need everyone’s help. Mapathon 2013 is India’s first ever mapping competition and this nation-wide mapping contest is open to just about anybody who lives in the country. All Google Maps users from all over the country can participate and help Google create better maps for India by adding knowledge of their neighborhoods through Google Map Maker. What’s in it for you, you ask? Mysore reveals that the top 1000 mappers in India can win Android tablets, smartphones, gift vouchers and Google merchandise. The registrations for the competition have just opened, and to join, log in to – : http://g.co/mapindia2013

A decade ago, electronics and cell phones in the classroom were considered little more than a distraction. Today, new devices such as tablet computers and smartphones are changing this perception. Educators are finding innovative ways to supplement their lectures with the newest technology, and students are beginning to see their devices as essential components of their college experience.

Naturally, major device manufacturers are now battling for dominance in the field. Below, we explore how Apple is winning the battle for education technology and what gives them the edge over the sizable competition in the market.

When it comes to your business’ branding strategy, establishing your company’s logo is one of the most critical tasks. Your logo will be pervasive throughout all of your marketing campaigns, and it’s one of the most prominent branding elements that people will think of when someone mentions your company. Your brand’s logo should be memorable, versatile, and consistent, all the while giving your audience a sense of what your brand is all about. Unfortunately, many companies haven’t exactly done a great job of keeping those goals in mind when establishing their logo, learning the hard way what it takes to create a positive brand experience through their logo.

Not sure what it takes to create a killer brand logo? To give you a better idea, here are some companies that have either failed or flourished in the logo department.

KFC’s Unique Logo Redesign & Launch

In 2006, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) launched a new logo, changing the Colonel’s appearance so he was pictured with a new, red apron. This was a big deal for the company, as its logo hadn’t been changed in over a decade. So why did they make the decision to revamp their logo? They wanted the image of the Colonel to be clearer and more energizing. The new, rejuvenated logo demonstrated an excitement and readiness to cook and serve.

Gap’s Logo Redesign Disaster

In 2010, Gap decided it wanted to change its logo into a more modern version and abruptly announced a new logo. The clothing company was greeted by backlash from thousands of angry customers in social media, who were attached to the recognizable blue box with ‘GAP’ written in the center. For Gap, the saying, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” would’ve been sound advice. Its customers were already loyal to the original logo.

Apple’s Perfect Logo Rebrand

Today, we think of the Apple logo as a simple but sleek design, representative of the Apple brand. But it wasn’t always that way. The logo originally had a picture of Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. Eventually, it was changed into a rainbow picture of an apple. And finally, it changed into the logo we know and love today.

Google’s Successful Rebellion Against Logo Design Best Practices

Surprisingly, the Google logo actually goes against a few standard branding rules. It uses colors that seem to clash with each other. There is a slight drop shadow, which is something logos aren’t supposed to have. It even uses a serif font, which is hardly unique, and very rare for a logo to have.

Starbucks’ Confusing Logo

The Starbucks logo has always had the text “Starbucks Coffee” surrounding an image of a twin-tailed mermaid, also known as a siren in Greek mythology, which is indicative of the company’s heritage from the Pacific Northwest. For those who are unfamiliar with the Starbucks logo, the addition of these words has always helped to explain what the logo represents. However, in 2011, Starbucks updated its logo to get rid of the words and leave the mermaid, in hopes that they had enough brand recognition.

Pepsi’s Boring Logo

Over the years, there have been quite a few changes to the Pepsi logo. Most recently, Pepsi removed the company name altogether and left the image of the ball.

On February 29th, Facebook revealed big plans for the mobile platform, including that the new Timeline format for brands will also be available on the mobile platform. The game changing updates mean that for users of other social media marketing platforms, the message for 2012 will be: we need to get ready for mobile.

Let’s recap the announcements Facebook made and what they mean for your brand:
Timeline for brands will also be functional in the mobile platform (but will be made available at an unspecified date in 2012)

Implications for brands: Where brands can currently launch mobile-optimized marketing campaigns that users can access from their smart devices, soon users will be able to experience the same exact workflow on their desktop as on their smart phone. The new Timeline format for brands, once available on the mobile network, will enable page managers to curate an identical experience for all users, regardless of how they’re accessing branded content on Facebook. This means a big impact on your brand’s reach, especially as we consider that nearly half of the active Facebook user population interacts with the network from their mobile device.
Sponsored Stories now appear in the mobile feed as well

Implications for brands: To date, there has been no advertising reach to any Facebook users on mobile devices. In light of the fact that approximately 450 million Facebook users interact with the network using a mobile device, this was an enormous opportunity lost to marketers— until now. Sponsored Story ad units are the only ones being released to mobile Timelines— this means that promoting these “organic word of mouth” advertising units will become a major part of every marketers mission.

In a sense, it’s a bit silly to call 2012 the Year of Mobile because every year since the release of Apple’s ill-fated Newton has been the Year of Mobile. We have always been moving toward computing devices that are smaller, faster, and cheaper. According to research by Morgan Stanley, the number of people who access the Internet primarily from mobile devices will surpass desktop users sometime in 2013.

Google is going to sell a 7-inch tablet for $200 in an attempt to take down the Kindle Fire as the second most popular tablet after the iPad.

Gizmodo Australia viewed a training document on the tablet and scooped up all the big details.

Here are the key points:
It will be called the “Nexus 7.”
It will have 1 GB of RAM.
It comes in 8 GB model for $199, and 16 GB for $250.
It’s built by Asus.
It supports Google Wallet, and NFC.
9 hours battery life.

A new report from Forrester Research predicts that number will explode in the years ahead: its researchers say that there will be 375 million tablets sold by 2016, representing a compound annual growth rate of 46 percent, and that by 2016 there will be 760 million tablets in use overall.

That will still put tablets a ways behind PCs — there will be 2 billion PCs in use in 2016. But combined with new products like frames (essentially docks for tablets to amp up their functionality), Forrester says that tablets will gradually become the computing device of choice among consumers — especially among those in emerging markets, whose first home computing device will more likely be a tablet than a desktop or laptop PC.

Apple, which effectively created the tablet market with the launch of its iPad two years ago, and has been setting the bar for what to make ever since, has seen some reduction in its tablet market share over the last year or two as more competitors have launched products.